Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Under the supermoon

Yesterday's full moon coincided with the closest approach the moon makes to the earth on its elliptical orbit. This created the biggest and brightest supermoon since 1948.

photo by Corina Roberts

I knew this was going to happen, but I didn't give it much thought until Sunday night when my friend, Valerie, posted this amazing picture to Facebook. The caption read: Headed out for a ride with my girl & the supermoon!

photo by Valerie Lowe

I was immediately jealous, as were Mary Jo and Karen. We decided we also needed to go on a supermoon ride, so last night we headed to the barn and saddled up.

This is us at the beginning of our ride. That's me on Santana, Mary Jo on Scarlett and Karen on Bob.

It was still mostly light when we set out, but as the sun set, it got dark quickly.

Really dark.

Really quickly.

Moon rise was supposed to be 5:24 PM, but that came and went with no visible moon. It was still really dark and also a little bit cold and a lot bit spooky. The horses began to question our sanity.

Then, all of a sudden, it happened. The moon came up, big and bright and absolutely amazing. It was light enough to cast shadows, but still much too dark to photograph from the saddle. After a few half hearted attempts, I decided to put my camera away and concentrate on enjoying the ride.

Of course, once we got back to the barn, I couldn't resist snapping a few more photos.

None of them turned out anywhere near as good as Valerie's, but that's okay.

It was a great night to be outside. I'm so glad we did that.

The next supermoon like this will be November 25, 2034. Who wants to go riding with me?

1 comment:

Oooooooo--*spooky*! Now THAT'S the kind of moon that should have been out around Halloween!!Hey Jennifer--when you and your friends went for your moonlit ride, did you sing "by the light of the silvery moon...?' !I *love* Santana's head turned shot--he looks as if he's saying "What are you humans--*nuts*?? Take me back to the barn!" OR "What was THAT??" Do you think he heard your mangy tailed "Wil E. Coyote" friend"singing" (howling?) in the dark....??